Allardyce targets more Hammers arrivals

Sam Allardyce still wants to make another addition to the West Ham squad and has prioritised recruiting a goalscorer.

The Upton Park outfit have added the likes of Mauro Zarate, Enner Valencia and Cheikhou Kouyate to their ranks during the close-season as they bid to improve on last term's 13th-placed finish in the Premier League.

And, while revealing his satisfaction at the quality of players he has been able to recruit, Allardyce concedes his squad is still lacking a striker to cover for the absence of Andy Carroll through injury.

"Overall we've gone out and shopped very wisely," he said. "From my point of view, it's about the age of the players as well as the talent of the players.

"Of the signings, the average age comes out at about 23 years of age.

"That's good for now and good for the future as it means they should be at West Ham for a long time, not just a short-term stopover as you mainly have to do for the first season or two in the Premier League.

"We've moved on now to not only improve the squad for now, but for a number of years to come. They'll only get better with us.

"We are still waiting for another frontline player to score a few goals - that's been very difficult to acquire, but we're still pursuing that avenue as quickly as we possibly can.

"We'll definitely get something done, but the quality of the player is the most important thing for me because...that player must come in and be available to be used immediately, or certainly in the near future.

"It may be that there's a little settling in period because it's looking more like that player's going to come in from abroad."

West Ham begin their Premier League campaign against London rivals Tottenham on Saturday.